Oh, Sugar!

A Total Bake-o-Rama

I used to bake. A lot. I loved it. It was cathartic. Then we discovered that the creations were doing bad things to our clothes; somehow, they were magically shrinking. It's dark times when you have nothing to wear, you know? Now I only bake from time to time, and it usually coincides with an event or another reason to take it somewhere other than our kitchen table.

Here are some of the latest experiments, but take it from me - only try them out when you have a place to share them (recipes are linked in titles)!

Texas Sheet Cake

I made this, with the idea that we would take it to a big game night of a friend. I have never attempted this kind of cake before, so I went with the Best Bites version because everything I've made from their cookbook has been fabulous. The recipe did not disappoint, which is not surprising as it is chock full of butter, sugar, chocolate and more! Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the festivities (bring on the shrinking clothes). And, while we ate more than I ever wanted to, we did deliver a large plate (piled so high I had trouble covering it) to our friends, Todd & Tawnya, who informed us that this is one of the favorite treats. In hindsight, we should have kept the plate and given them the pan.

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

These treats served several purposes: 1) dessert for the sister missionaries' dinner with us; 2) a great, big Thank-You to one of the YM who came to my rescue by posting the music numbers for sacrament when I was running late; and 3) a little bit of sugary cheer to our sweet friends who lost their daughter. This dessert is actually very low-cal, especially if you swap the oil with applesauce (which I did); even better that it was topped with fresh fruit in this version.

Happy Baking!